Lesson for the Fifth Sunday of Lent (B)

The Crucifix Reveals the Heart of God

My dear brothers and sisters, in today's Gospel there are some Greek-speaking visitors who had come to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to celebrate the Passover, the most important Jewish holy day. And when they hear about Jesus, they give us one of the most beautiful prayers in the whole Bible. So simple, and so powerful. They come up to St Philip and say, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."

Jesus' response to this request is kind of confusing. Instead of just saying, "OK, show them in," he gives a long explanation of "his hour," his coming sacrifice on the cross.

At first glance, this seems like a denial. But his last statement shows that actually, he is granting their request. "And when I am lifted up from the earth," he explains, "I will draw everyone to myself."

By his crucifixion, Jesus reveals himself to everyone, including these Greek visitors included.Christ wants everyone to find him, to see him, to learn to know and love him - that's why he became man in the first place. And so he allows himself to be crucified, which showing us both his outer self, and his inner self.

The crucifixion exposes his heart for all to see - a heart blazing with so much love that it is willing to die for our sake, to suffer unspeakable pain and humiliation in order to reopen to us the gates of heaven. The crucifix is the great revelation of the heart of God.

If we want to "see Christ," to see and know God, we have only to raise our eyes to behold him dying on the cross to give us true life. There Christ is most attractive to us - and we should always remember that we are no less attractive to him when we bend under the weight of our own cross and weakness.

St Marguerite Bourgeoys Saves the Day

God also reveals this dynamic, energetic love through his saints. In fact, every one of us is called to be a mirror of God's goodness and God's love. When we live that calling faithfully, we become saints. Sometimes we think that saints are pious and passive - but since God's love is dynamic, authentic saints are also dynamic.

St Marguerite Bourgeoys is a good example of this. She was born in France in 1630, but her heart to serve God and his people brought her to the newfound French colony of Montreal, Canada in 1652.

She came in response to an invitation issued by the colony's governor, who was looking for teachers. She came to the rough settlement and immediately began her work of teaching and training young colonial and Native American girls.

Soon she saw that the progress of the settlement depended on a morally sound and capable class of women who could form and maintain solid home lives. So, she returned to France to gather some fellow workers, and then expanded her efforts back in Montreal by starting a new kind of religious order. And that's where she reflected so brilliantly the passionate, tireless, dynamic love of the heart of the crucified Christ.

At that time, religious congregations of women were all cloistered. But St Marguerite recognized that the specific characteristics of colonial life needed the help of sisters who were allowed to work outside the convent: promoting Christian charity, education, and everything else a new settlement required.

She insisted on moving forward with this radical new vision, even though it entailed an endless round of arguments and discussions to win official approval from civil and Church authorities. She spent her whole lifetime pioneering this new form of religious consecration against all odds - because that's the kind of thing true, Christ-like love does.

Giving His Heart a Chance to Show Its Love

We only have a couple more weeks of Lent. Nothing would please the heart of Christ more than if we made a real effort to spend more time with him in prayer during these weeks, to give him a chance to show us how much he loves us.

True prayer is much more than just saying prayers. It is a heart-to-heart conversation with God, with the God who loves us so much that even while we were still sinners, he climbed up onto a cross and suffered in his own body and soul the consequences and penalty of our sins.

There are special graces in the air during Lent, but we will miss them unless we take time to sit close to the Lord and talk with him. We are all busy, and it may not be easy to make time to spend in prayer.

God understands that. But if we try, I am sure we can find ways. Maybe it is just a matter of saying an extra decade of the Rosary while you're driving to the store or to work.

Maybe it's just a matter of going to bed fifteen minutes earlier than usual, so that you can get up fifteen minutes earlier and spend that time reading a chapter of the Bible or of a good spiritual book and speaking to the Lord about what you read.

Maybe it could be skipping your favorite TV show or Drama series for the next two or three weeks and coming to the parish to do a Holy Hour (or a Holy Half-Hour) in front of the Eucharist instead - praying for yourself and for all your loved ones.

God will never let himself be outdone in generosity. If we give him a bit more time, he will shower us with a lot more grace - that's just how he is: his heart never gets tired of giving. We just need to give his heart a chance. As he comes to us again in this Holy Mass, let's promise him that we will.